Smiley: A routine matter

She was apprehensive as she stood in front of the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court’s office.

She knew that her applying for a marriage license was now legal, but she wondered if she would get a sigh, an eye-roll or muttering under the breath — the kinds of things she and her partner had endured during their decades together.

When the clerk handling licenses came up to her, she expected the worse.

But when she told her what she wanted, the lady smiled and said amiably, “Sure, I can help you with that.”

The clerk went through the process with her, and suggested that since information was needed from both, she could finish online at their home.

When she went back for the license, the same lady offered congratulations and wished happiness for both of them.

“That clerk was so professional,” she told me. “After all my fear, she handled it as a routine matter — just another day at the office.”

In her voice was surprise — and gratitude.

Ride those fish!

Gene Duke says the reader who asked about the difference between a fishing tournament and a fishing rodeo reminded him of this tale from his youth:

“Some friends in Zachary, just out of high school, saw some information about a rodeo in Grand Isle.

“They chipped in for the trip, loaded their bucking rigs and headed for the Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo.

“Since they were the only riders, I suppose they won by forfeit.”

Misled consumers

Alma Mims, of Mandeville, warns that names of businesses might not reflect their true nature:

“Years ago, probably in the ’90s, my brother Bill took a ride across the Mississippi River from Kenner to Mudbugs on the Westbank for some crawfish.

“To his surprise, Mudbugs was a popular honky-tonk.

“Also, my son Steve was looking to purchase a lamp a few years back when he walked into The Lampstand in Mandeville.

“That turned out to be a Christian book and gift store, now closed.”

Speaking Cajun

Val Garon wrote in the Friday column about a guy who stepped on an alligator while crossing a “zambara” in the swamp.

He said he had heard the word from old Cajuns, but didn’t know exactly what it meant.

Mitch Rabalais was the first to offer an explanation:

“The word ‘zumbada’ is a Cajun word that means a log jam or debris that forms by a flowing stream or bayou.”

Mitch says he’s not sure of the spelling, but that’s how the word sounds phonetically.